Support vector machine based classification of smokers and nonsmokers using diffusion tensor imaging.

Despite significant progress in treatments for smoking cessation, smoking continues to be a significant public health concern, especially in young adulthood. Thus, developing a predictive model that can classify and characterize the brain-based biomarkers predicting smoking status would be imperative to improving treatment development. In this study, we applied a support vector machine-based classification method to discriminate 70 young male smokers and 70 matched nonsmokers using their diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data.

Reduced resting-state functional connectivity and sleep impairment in abstinent male alcohol-dependent patients.

Alcohol dependence is associated with poor sleep quality, which has both been implicated with thalamocortical circuits function. To identify the possible roles of these circuits in the alcohol-sleep association, we investigated the volume of both left and right thalamus and corresponding resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) differences between 15 alcohol-dependent patients (AD) and 15 healthy controls (HC) male participants. The neuroimaging findings were then correlated with clinical variables, that is, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Right arcuate fasciculus and superior longitudinal fasciculus abnormalities in primary insomnia.

Primary insomnia (PI) is a very common phenomenon and associated with functional impairments of attention, memory and mood regulation. However, its neurobiology is poorly understood. To date, the studies about integrity of white matter (WM) tracts in PI patients have been still rare.